Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
" I sometimes suspect that we're seeing something in the Internet as significant as the birth of cities. It's really something new, it's a new kind of civilization."
- William Gibson
 |
| Identificator | ||
| A hologram projector used to flash door signs. |
After you have finished this short quote, you might want to take a look at the Heliodisplay, a real-world technology that would allow a message or sign to float in the air.
| The floor was resilient black and gray tesserae; the walls and ceiling were plastered white, devoid of decoration or relief except for the doors and identificators - these in various muted tones of maroon, mauve, dark green, indigo.
Three doors doors along the corridor Gersen came upon a free-floating identificator of luminous blue letters, which read: GYLE WARWEAVE, and below: PROVOST.... He stepped forward; the door slipped aside, quick as a camera shutter; the identificator broke into individual letters which scattered like frightened fish, to regroup after he had passed. |
| Technovelgy from The Star King,
by Jack Vance. Published by Berkeley in 1964 Additional resources -
|
I saw the Heliodisplay at NextFest 2005 in Chicago; if you put your fingers in the flow, you can make the picture or words "scatter like fish," very much the way Vance describes the Identificator. Different technology, similar effect.
Thanks to an anonymous reader for suggesting this item (and providing a quote!).
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Star King
More Ideas
and Technology by Jack Vance
Tech news articles related to The Star King
Tech news articles related to works by Jack Vance
| Transparent 4K OLED Wireless TV From LG |
| DOTPad Braille Device Offers Live Access |
| Transparent MicroLED Screen From Samsung |
| Augmented Reality Book Covers Reveal The Inner Book |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
'...war-balloons, or, as it would be more correct to call them, navigable aerostats.'
'This robot is a creature... It is a manlike being. Therefore, like any other talking, thinking man, he is entitled to a court trial!'
'...small electric motors at the principal joints worked the prosthetic framework by means of steel cables...'
